


Better to Leave Than to Get Kicked Out

by Exhausted_Sloth



Series: Comfortember 2020 [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Comfort, Comfortember 2020, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27481396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exhausted_Sloth/pseuds/Exhausted_Sloth
Summary: When Steve gets shot on a mission, Peter feels responsible, and decides to leave the compound before the Avengers can kick him out. Tony finds him packing, and reassures him that nobody blames him, and that they'd never kick him out.Written for Day 4 of Comfortember: Anxiety
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996975
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Better to Leave Than to Get Kicked Out

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 4 of Comfortember: Anxiety. Honestly, I'm not super happy with how this one turned out, but I also know it's not going to get any better, so here it is anyway.  
> None of the characters belong to me!

Peter sunk down onto his bed, burying his head in his hands. He had never regretted going on an Avengers mission as much as he did in that moment. He was sure that he wasn’t going to be allowed to go on any more any time soon, if he didn’t just get kicked off the team permanently. He sat there for several long minutes, the scene of Steve getting shot in the leg and falling onto the pavement playing over and over in his head. He had been supposed to be watching the surrounding area, making sure nobody got the drop on the super soldier from any of the surrounding buildings, but he had somehow missed seeing the sniper in time. At least he had managed to mess up the sniper’s aim a little, though. Otherwise, the bullet would have hit Steve somewhere much more deadly. 

After a few minutes of sitting on his bed, dreading what the others would say when they saw him, Peter started to notice how sweaty and gross he felt. He was still in the suit, not having bothered to change, and was still a mess from the mission. Sighing, the teen stood up and grabbed some sweatpants and an old shirt before heading into the bathroom to shower, still playing those few seconds over and over in his mind. 

* * *

An hour later, Peter was flopped on his bed again, staring at the ceiling. His hair was still wet, leaving a damp patch on the pillow, but he ignored it, still too busy worrying about Steve. He lay there for several minutes, becoming more and more sure that he wouldn’t be allowed to work with the Avengers any more as the minutes went by, until he was completely convinced that they would kick him out as soon as they stopped worrying about Steve enough to remember that he had been supposed to be watching his back. Sitting up, he walked over to his dresser. He grabbed a duffle on the way over, setting it onto of the dresser as he opened drawers and started packing his clothes as fast as he could. He had left the suit in a dirty pile on the bathroom floor. _Better to leave then get kicked out, and better to leave the suit then to make Mr. Stark have to come take it from me again_ , he thought, zipping the bag closed and turning to scan the room for anything else he needed to grab before he figured out how to get back to the city. As his gaze reached the doorway, he noticed Tony leaning against the frame. The older man gave him a confused look, then walked in and stopped a few feet from him. 

“Steve’s awake. He wanted to talk to you, but it seems like you have other plans?” He glanced down at the duffle, then back up to Peter’s face. “What’s got you leaving in such a hurry?”

Peter looked away, his hand tightening around the strap of the duffle still sitting on his dresser. 

“I was going back to the city… I know you won’t want me here after I messed up that badly.” Peter spoke quietly, but there was a confidence if his voice that made Tony’s heart sink. He gave the teen a concerned look.

“What are you talking about, Pete?” Tony searched his face for any indication of what the teen was worrying about, and when he found none, he sighed and walked over to the teen’s desk, grabbing the chair and dragging it over to face the bed. He gestured for Peter to sit on the mattress, staring at him until he complied. Peter settled on the mattress facing him, looking at the floor.  
“What’s on your mind, Pete? Why wouldn’t I want you here?” the inventor asked, waiting for the teen to meet his to stop studying the floor. It took a minute, but he eventually looked up and met his mentor’s eyes.  
“I let him get shot! I was supposed to be watching his back and I let him get shot! I should have seen that sniper, I should have been able to stop them-!”

Tony cut him off.

“Pete, we’ve all messed up! We’ve all missed things, that’s why we work as a _team_ , so if one of us messes up, someone else is there to help. Yes, Steve got shot, but because of you, he’s still alive. I had Karen send me the footage, if you hadn’t shot that web, that bullet would have ended up between his eyes instead of in his leg. If you hadn’t stopped the sniper from getting off another shot, Steve would be _dead!_ ” Tony paused and took a deep breath, meeting the shocked teen’s eyes. “Instead, he’s laying in medbay, awake, and wants to thank you for saving his life.” He stood up and put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We’d never kick you off the team for something like this, if that’s what you’re worried about. Come on, let’s get you to Steve before we all die of old age, ok?”

Pete stared at Tony, trying to process what his mentor had just said to him. He stood slowly, Tony’s hand still on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around him. Tony pulled him closer, hugging him for a moment before releasing him and gesturing to the door. He walked out of the room and towards the medbay, trusting that the teen would follow him. When he glanced back a few seconds later, he was glad to see Peter following a few steps behind him. Tony wasn’t a fool, he knew that they’d have to sit down and have a longer conversation about Peter’s worries about being unwanted and getting kicked off the team just because he wasn’t absolutely perfect, but he also knew that now wasn’t the time for that conversation. For now, Peter needed to see Steve awake and talking, then needed to sleep for _at least 8 hours_. After that, they would have a discussion about Peter’s fears.


End file.
